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INTRODUCTION: THE NATIONAL INTEREST

A properly regulated system of legal immigration is in the national interest of the United States. Such a system enhances the benefits of immigration while protecting against potential harms.

Immigrants often create new businesses and other employment-

generating activates that promote the renewal of city neighborhoods and commercial districts. Immigrants also can strengthen America's economic and political ties with other nations and, thus, enhance our ability to compete in a global economy and provide leadership in international and humanitarian affairs. Properly regulated immigration further strengthens American scientific, literary, artistic and other cultural resources. It promotes family values and ties, important components of good schools and strong communities. At a time of troubling ethnic strife in many parts of the world, an effective American immigration policy can demonstrate to other countries that religious and ethnic diversity are compatible with national civic unity in a democratic and free society.

Legal immigration, however, has costs, as well as benefits. Immigrants with relatively low education and skills may compete for jobs and public services with the most vulnerable of Americans, particularly those who are unemployed or underemployed. Jobs generated by immigrant businesses do not always address this problem. Concentrated and/or rapid entry of immigrants into a locality may impose immediate net costs, particularly in education funding to meet the additional and special needs of newcomers. Concentration of new immigrants can exacerbate tensions among ethnic groups. Certain legal immigrant populations may impose other costs: refugees often need special health and other services, making per-capita

resettlement more costly than overseas solutions; elderly new immigrants are more likely to draw upon public services than elderly

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native-born Americans or immigrants who came to the United States at a younger age.

The recommendations in this report strongly affirm the value of a properly regulated immigration system, one that strikes a constructive balance between costs and benefits. This perspective is by no means a new one. In 1981, the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy concluded (U.S. Select Commission 1981a:5):

To the question: Is immigration in the U.S. national interest?, the Select Commission gives a strong but qualified yes. A strong yes because we believe there are many benefits which immigrants bring to U.S. society; a qualified yes because we believe there are limits on the ability of this country to absorb large numbers of immigrants effectively.

Further, the recommendations of this report seek to maximize the many positive opportunities that legal immigration presents to our nation: continuing a tradition of unifying families and strengthening communities; maintaining the advantages of workers with high levels of labor force participation, needed skills, and entrepreneurship; and meeting U.S. responsibilities for international leadership with continued humanitarian admissions.

At the same time, the recommendations will help mitigate potential negative impacts, particularly on disadvantaged U.S. workers.

Already-resident immigrants should be included in this calculus as research finds that newcomers have the greatest adverse effects on immigrants already here. Modest reductions in the number of new arrivals are recommended for the future, but only after currently backlogged nuclear family members are admitted. Greater responsibility by immigrant sponsors is recommended. So is more

effective administration by those government agencies that oversee

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immigration. Addressing the challenges of immigration means not

just setting numbers, but also defining priorities and enforcing shared

responsibilities.

Finally, the Commission's recommendations support effective Americanization of new immigrants, that is the cultivation of a shared commitment to the American values of liberty, democracy, and equal opportunity. The United States is among the most successful multiethnic societies in history. It has united immigrants and their descendents from all over the world around a commitment to democratic ideals and constitutional principles. Those ideals and principles have been embraced by persons from an extraordinary variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds, partly because they permit and protect religious and cultural diversity within a framework of national political unity. This report, therefore, calls for measures to enhance and accelerate the naturalization of immigrants and their integration into U.S. society. These recommendations should help ensure that our legal immigration system will continue to serve the national interest of the United States.

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THE IMMIGRATION

ACT OF 1990

The legal immigration provisions of the Immigration Act of 1990 [IMMACT, P.L. 101-649] attempted to balance a number of competing interests by (1) encouraging overall limits on legal immigration through establishment of annual numerical targets for total immigration, (2) permitting continued reunification of close family members with a guaranteed minimum for family preference visas if there are increases in the number of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens seeking entry, (3) meeting present and future labor market needs by increasing the proportion admitted for employment-based reasons, giving higher priority to the entry of professionals and highly-skilled persons, and retaining procedures for helping to ensure that foreign workers do not adversely affect employment opportunities for U.S. workers, (4) providing greater national origin diversity by offering new opportunities for migration from countries that have not recently experienced much emigration to the United States, and

(5) establishing a timely and more efficient naturalization process.

IMMACT Effects On Immigration Levels

To accomplish these objectives, Congress significantly revised the INA. The principal provisions of IMMACT were not implemented until 1992 and immigrant admissions in 1992 were primarily from the pre-IMMACT backlog. Only the 1993 and 1994 admissions are reflective of the new policies on family and employment based immigration. The permanent Diversity Program did not go into effect until this fiscal year.

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Legal Immigration

Immigrants fall into two major categories: those whose numbers are subject to annual statutory limits and those whose numerical limits can change each year (primarily refugees) or who have no numerical limits at all. Overall admissions of legal immigrants averaged about 640,000 annually during the five-year period prior to the implementation of IMMACT. These numbers include all immigrants, whether admitted within or outside any statutory limits. As Chart 1 shows, total admissions since IMMACT, just over 800,000 in FY 1992 and about 880,000 in FY 1993, dropped in FY 1994 to just under 800,000. (These numbers do not include adjustments to permanent resident status of the 2.7 million illegal aliens already in the United States who were legalized under the Immigration Reform Control Act of 1986 [IRCA].)

Statutory Cap

IMMACT established a flexible worldwide level of 700,000 family-based, employment-based, and diversity immigration visas for FYs 1992-1994, with a FY 1995 drop in the worldwide level to 675,000. Separate ceilings were set for each of these immigrant categories, and, as described below, subceilings were created within each category. The total admissions under the statutory cap were about 662,000 in FY 1994.

Family-Sponsored Immigration. Concerned that a worldwide limit on family-sponsored immigration had a potential to disrupt family reunification, Congress established an overall cap that could be pierced if the number of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, for whom there are no numerical limits, exceeded expectations. IMMACT established a minimum floor of 226,000 per year for numerically-limited, family-sponsored preferences to ensure that these visas would continue to be available. Should the number of unrestricted immediate relatives

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Chart 1.

Immigrant Admissions by Major Category:

FYs 1990-1994

Category of Admission 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

SUBJECT TO THE NUMERICAL CAP 535,993 537,010 655,541 719,701 662,029

FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRANTS 448,640 455,415 502,995 539,209 497,682

Immediate Relatives of U.S. citizens 231,680 237,103 235,484 255,059 249,764

Spouses and children 171,491 173,527 170,720 192,631 193,394

Parents 60,189 63,576 64,764 62,428 56,370

Children born abroad to alien residents 2,410 2,224 2,116 2,030 1,883

Family-sponsored immigrants 214,550 216,088 213,123 226,776 211,961

Unmarried sons/daughters of U.S. citizens 15,861 15,385 12,486 12,819 13,181

Spouses and children of LPRs X X 90,486 98,604 88,673

Sons and daughters of LPRs X X 27,761 29,704 26,327

Married sons/daughters of U.S. citizens 26,751 27,115 22,195 23,385 22,191

Siblings of U.S. citizens 64,252 63,462 60,195 62,264 61,589

Legalization dependents X X 52,272 55,344 34,074

EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS 58,192 59,525 116,198 147,012 123,291

Priority workers X X 5,456 21,114 21,053

Professionals w/ adv. deg. or of advanced ability X X 58,401 29,468 14,432

Skilled, professionals, other workers, (CSPA) X X 47,568 87,689 76,956

Skilled, professionals, other workers X X 47,568 60,774 55,659

Chinese Student Protection Act (CSPA) X X X 26,915 21,297

Special immigrants 4,463 4,576 4,063 8,158 10,406

Investors X X 59 583 444

Professionals or highly skilled (Old 3rd) 26,546 27,748 340 X X

Needed skilled or unskilled workers (Old 6th) 27,183 27,201 311 X X

DIVERSITY PROGRAMS 29,161 22,070 36,348 33,480 41,056

Diversity transition X X 33,911 33,468 41,056

Nationals of adversely affected countries 20,371 12,268 1,557 10 X

Natives of underrepresented countries 8,790 9,802 880 2 X

NOT SUBJECT TO THE NUMERICAL CAP 120,118 166,995 155,094 160,313 136,365

Amerasians 13,059 16,010 17,253 11,116 2,822

Cuban/Haitian Entrants 710 213 99 62 47

Parolees, Soviet and Indochineese X 4,998 13,661 15,772 8,253

Refugees and Asylees 97,364 139,079 117,037 127,343 121,434

Refugee adjustments 92,427 116,415 106,379 115,539 115,451

Asylee adjustments 4,937 22,664 10,658 11,804 5,983

Registered Nurses and their families 2,954 3,069 3,572 2,178 304

Registry, entered prior to 1/1/72 4,633 2,282 1,293 938 667

Other 1,398 1,344 2,179 2,904 2,838

TOTAL 656,111 704,005 810,635 880,014 798,394

Note: X = Not Applicable. Excludes persons granted LPR status under the provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Statistics Division

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exceed 239,000 (465,000 less 226,000) in FYs 1992-1994 or 254,000 (480,000 less 226,000) after FY 1994, the family-sponsored cap would be pierced. Under this flexible cap, the number of spouses, minor children, and parents of U.S. citizens admitted in the previous year is subtracted from the overall numbers available for family sponsorship, and (as of FY 1994) the number of unused employment-based visas from the previous year is added to the total. In no event, however, can the remaining family-based visas be fewer than

226,000. In addition, up to 55,000 spouses and minor children of IRCA-legalized aliens could be admitted in FYs 1992-1994. About 500,000 family-based immigrants entered in FY 1994.

Employment-Based Immigration. IMMACT extensively revised the employment-based categories and numbers to emphasize skill and, for the first time, include immigrant investors. Prior to IMMACT, 54,000 visas were available annually for occupation-based immigration, not including the "special immigrants" now admitted under

the employment-based categories. IMMACT allows up to 140,000

employment-based visas to be issued each year to applicants and their spouses and children.

Employment-based immigration rose from an annual average of 58,000 in FY 1987-91 to 147,000 in FY 1993 (the latter includes unused FY 1992 employment-based numbers) and then fell to 123,000 in FY 1994. These numbers are deceptive, however, since they include the special case of some 27,000 and 21,000, respectively, who adjusted status under the Chinese Student Protection Act [CSPA]. The economic recession may have led employers to petition for fewer immigrant workers than the number possible under the new employment ceilings. Of the 100,000 FY 1994 admissions that actually involved immigrants coming to work, about 42,000 were the principal workers; the remainder were their dependents.

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Diversity Immigration (DV-1). The Diversity Immigrant provisions contained in IMMACT aim to increase national diversity in the immigrant population by widening access to immigration to individuals from underrepresented countries who have neither family nor job ties to the United States. This permanent diversity program began in October 1994. It provides 55,000 visas to nationals of a country that has sent fewer than 50,000 legal immigrants to the United States over the previous five years. Each applicant must have a high school education or its equivalent or two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience. In FY 1995, the numbers are to be apportioned as follows: 20,200 to Africa; 6,850 to Asia; 24,550 to Europe; 8 to North America; 2,600 to South America; and 800 to Oceania. No single country may receive more than 7 percent (3,850) of the numbers available worldwide.

As a transition toward the permanent program, Congress allocated 40,000 visas in each of three years (FYs 1992-1994) for persons from countries "adversely affected" by the 1965 Amendments to the INA, which substituted family and employment ties for national origins as the principal determinants of U.S. immigration policy. In FY 1994, 41,000 immigrants entered under the transitional diversity visas.

Immigrants outside the Statutory Cap

As Chart 1 shows, an additional 136,000 immigrants not subject to a numerical cap were admitted to the U.S. in FY 1994. This category includes refugees, asylees, parolees, and others who gain entry for humanitarian reasons. Most of these individuals are counted when they adjust status to permanent residents, generally after at least one year in the U.S. The largest group consists of refugees resettled in the United States. IMMACT made no changes in the refugee admissions program and the Refugee Act of 1980 continues to govern refugee policy. In FY 1994, 115,000 refugees adjusted to permanent

resident status. IMMACT did increase the number of asylees permit

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ted to adjust each year, from 5,000 to 10,000. In FY 1994, some 6,000 asylees and their dependents adjusted status. This number does

not include the larger category of asylum-seekers who are still awaiting decisions on their applications. In FY 1994, approximately 150,000 asylum cases were filed. Recent legislation also permits individuals paroled into the U.S. from the former Soviet Union, Vietnam, and selected other countries to adjust; 8,000 parolees did so in FY 1994.

Characteristics of Legal Immigrants

Given the short period IMMACT has been in effect, it is not surprising that it has not significantly changed the characteristics of the immigrants entering the U.S. The categories of immigration revised or added by IMMACT accounted for less than 30 percent of the immigrants admitted in FY 1992 (employment-based preferencesmaximum of 140,000; legalization dependentsmaximum of 55,000; and the transitional diversity programmaximum of 40,000). As most immigration continues to be based on family criteria, the new immigrant pool reflects the recent immigrant pool and is not likely to change in the immediate future. Data on the characteristics of legal immigrants are summarized for pre- and post-IMMACT.¹

Places of Origin. Charts 2a and 2b shows immigrants according to major sending regions and countries of birth. Asia and North America, principally Mexico, continued to be the two largest source regions

of legal immigrants, with 36.6 and 33.4 percent of the total immi

¹Data are shown in Charts 2 and 3 for the two-year period immediately before and after IMMACT took effect (FYs 1990-1991 and FYs 1992-1993). Separate data are shown for FY 1994, the first year in which the full effects of IMMACT's new employment-based provisions took place. The two earlier years saw the admission of individuals in the pre-IMMACT backlog. Aliens granted permanent resident status under the provisions of IRCA also are treated separately. Their characteristics are pertinent to understanding future immigration trends, because their relatives account for a large share of the family backlog.

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Chart 2a.

Origin and Destination of Immigrants: FY 1994

Others*

Taiwan

Colombia

Iran

Haiti

Philippines

Jamaica

Mexico

Cuba

Russia

Korea

Canada

United Kingdom

Ireland

China

El Salvador

Other

Ukraine

Poland

Illinois

India

California

Vietnam

Texas

Dominican

Republic

Florida

New

Jersey

New York

*Inclues immigrants from more than 180 countries

Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Statistics Division

grants admitted during FY 1994, respectively. The percentage admitted from North America remained mostly unchanged, although the percentage from Asia continued to decline, from 45.8 percent of the total inflow during the 1980s to 36.6 percent in FY 1994. The increases in the overall limits under IMMACT, however, have allowed for increased numbers of immigrants from all the regions of the world.

The countries with the largest increases in the number of immigrants admitted post-IMMACT primarily were countries that were major sources during the 1980s: Mexico; Mainland China; Vietnam; and the Dominican Republic. Other countries had large increases, both in terms of numbers and percent: Poland; El Salvador; the United Kingdom; Ireland; and Japan.

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Chart 2b.

Immigrant Admission by Region & Country of Birth: FYs 1980-1994

Number Percent

1980-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994 IRCA 1980-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994 IRCA (10 years) (2 years) (2 years) (1 year) (5 years) (10 years) (2 years) (2 years) (1 year) (5 years)

All countries 5,853,404 1,360,116 1,690,649 798,394 2,669,968 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Europe 656,080 224,293 301,649 160,820 34,609 11.2 16.5 17.8 20.1 1.3

France 22,004 4,781 6,100 2,713 746 .4 .4 .4 .3 .0

Germany 67,941 13,234 17,126 6,988 804 1.2 1.0 1.0 .9 .0

Ireland 23,320 13,986 25,742 17,251 1,364 .4 1.0 1.5 2.2 .1

Italy 34,800 5,014 5,022 2,302 1,223 .6 .4 .3 .3 .0

Poland 76,087 29,945 52,566 28,020 16,066 1.3 2.2 3.1 3.5 .6

Portugal 44,223 6,446 4,588 2,161 2,524 .8 .5 .3 .3 .1

Romania 36,153 12,640 12,092 3,444 188 .6 .9 .7 .4 .0

Soviet Union 68,981 82,189 102,158 68,417 461 1.2 6.0 6.0 7.9 .0

United Kingdom 140,482 26,537 38,469 16,306 4,779 2.4 2.0 2.3 2.0 .2

Yugoslavia 18,115 4,285 5,294 3,400 1,713 .3 .3 .3 .4 .1

Other Europe 123,974 25,236 32,492 14,818 4,741 2.1 1.9 1.9 1.9 .2

Asia 2,683,756 609,650 705,592 292,320 128,055 45.8 44.8 41.7 36.6 4.8

Afghanistan 23,852 5,260 5,557 2,343 1,160 .4 .4 .3 .3 .0

Bangladesh 10,968 9,977 6,403 3,413 6,082 .2 .7 .4 .4 .2

China, Mainland 208,180 60,445 104,287 53,976 9,376 3.6 4.4 6.2 6.8 .4

China 53,454 NA NA NA NA .9 NA NA NA NA

Hong Kong 56,404 18,684 9,559 7,729 2,269 1.0 1.4 1.2 1.0 .1

India 251,123 59,844 74,650 34,873 20,771 4.3 4.4 4.4 4.4 .8

Indonesia 11,487 5,311 4,654 1,367 755 .2 .4 .3 .2 .0

Iran 136,202 36,050 27,508 11,384 13,150 2.3 2.7 1.6 1.4 .5

Iraq 19,880 2,721 8,134 6,023 1,153 .3 .2 .5 .8 .0

Israel 34,791 7,811 9,479 3,419 1,568 .6 .6 .6 .4 .1

Japan 41,336 9,613 17,858 6,088 1,651 .7 .7 1.1 .8 .1

Jordan 31,448 7,966 8,702 3,989 952 .5 .6 .5 .5 .0

Korea 336,887 51,176 36,932 15,985 10,100 5.8 3.8 2.2 2.0 .4

Laos 149,181 20,304 15,974 5,089 156 2.5 1.5 .9 .6 .0

Lebanon 39,635 10,222 10,755 4,315 2,470 .7 .8 .6 .5 .1

Pakistan 54,156 16,054 17,814 8,648 17,101 .9 1.2 1.1 1.1 .6

Philippines 466,546 110,283 122,368 53,501 26,465 8.0 8.1 7.2 6.7 1.0

Syria 19,025 5,190 5,600 2,426 1,125 .3 .4 .3 .3 .0

Taiwan 101,450 26,387 30,541 10,022 3,674 1.7 1.9 1.8 1.3 .1

Thailand 57,861 13,892 13,540 5,484 4,400 1.0 1.0 .8 .7 .2

Turkey 20,414 4,149 4,612 1,838 1,121 .3 .3 .3 .2 .0

Vietnam 395,943 103,940 137,341 41,344 334 6.8 7.6 8.1 5.2 .0

Other Asia 163,533 24,371 23,324 9,064 2,222 2.8 1.8 1.4 1.0 .1

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Africa 163,584 42,042 52,230 26,609 39,385 2.8 3.1 3.1 3.3 1.5

Egypt 29,551 6,919 6,932 3,385 3,591 .5 .5 .4 .4 .1

Ethiopia 23,028 7,327 9,651 3,878 3,190 .4 .5 .6 .5 .1

Nigeria 26,066 5,514 8,210 3,918 14,382 .4 .4 .5 .5 .5

South Africa 15,525 3,494 4,675 2,141 571 .3 .3 .3 .3 .0

Other Africa 69,414 18,788 22,762 13,287 17,651 1.2 1.4 1.3 1.6 .7

Oceania 38,980 8,347 9,291 4,577 5,315 .7 .6 .5 .6 .2

Australia 13,522 3,199 4,530 2,047 319 .2 .2 .3 .3 .0

Other Oceania 25,458 5,148 4,761 2,530 4,996 .4 .4 .3 .3 .2

North America 1,915,181 382,318 518,361 266,872 2,370,271 32.7 28.1 30.7 33.4 88.8

Canada 114,468 25,917 32,039 16,048 6,254 2.0 1.9 1.9 2.0 .2

Mexico 692,135 109,415 200,359 106,995 1,994,551 11.8 8.0 11.9 13.4 74.7

Caribbean 841,064 168,172 182,383 104,427 111,370 14.4 12.4 10.8 13.1 4.2

Cuba 163,583 20,667 25,404 14,726 463 2.8 1.5 1.5 1.8 .0

Dominican Rep 225,752 62,241 85,726 51,047 24,123 3.9 4.6 5.1 6.4 .9

Haiti 122,421 24,198 12,007 13,200 56,700 2.1 1.8 .7 1.7 2.1

Jamaica 205,230 36,853 33,789 14,295 15,887 3.5 2.7 2.0 1.8 .6

Trinidad & Tobago 37,510 11,398 13,111 6,276 4,660 .6 .8 .8 .8 .2

Other Caribbean 86,568 12,815 12,346 4,883 8,537 1.5 .9 .7 .6 .3

Central America 266,389 78,638 103,451 39,354 258,056 4.6 5.8 6.1 4.9 9.7

El Salvador 96,209 25,434 46,627 17,353 152,765 1.6 1.9 2.8 2.2 5.7

Guatemala 45,993 11,361 18,709 7,235 63,545 .8 .8 1.1 .9 2.4

Honduras 37,535 10,911 12,834 5,205 16,077 .6 .8 .8 .7 .6

Nicaragua 29,938 19,658 15,419 5,240 15,338 .5 1.4 .9 .7 .6

Panama 28,852 6,352 5,386 2,374 1,755 .5 .5 .3 .3 .1

Other C. America 27,862 4,922 4,476 1,947 8,576 .5 .4 .3 .1 .3

Other N. America 1,125 176 129 6,048 40 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0

South America 395,702 93,464 103,524 47,194 92,167 6.8 6.9 6.1 5.9 3.5

Argentina 22,003 5,399 6,449 2,304 5,271 .4 .4 .4 .3 .2

Brazil 20,882 6,670 8,384 4,474 6,898 .4 .5 .5 .6 .3

Colombia 106,900 19,507 24,356 10,800 30,684 1.8 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.1

Ecuador 47,172 10,827 13,965 5,863 14,763 .8 .8 .8 .7 .6

Guyana 91,581 20,368 17,084 7,654 3,836 1.6 1.5 1.0 1.0 .1

Peru 50,260 17,815 19,160 9,146 17,719 .9 1.3 1.1 1.1 .7

Venezuela 15,589 4,178 4,928 2,424 1,983 .3 .3 .3 .3 .1

Other S. America 41,315 8,700 9,198 4,530 11,013 .7 .6 .5 .5 .4

.

Born on board ship 13 0 2 NA 0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0

Unknown/not reported 108 2 0 2 117 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0

NOTE: The periods shown reflect the decade and period immediately prior to the Immigration Act of 1990, a transition period during 1992-1993, and the most recent data for 1994 that most closely reflects the effects of the 1990 Act. IRCA refers to persons adjusting to permanent resident status from IRCA's temporary legalization status through 1993.

Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Statistics Division

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The elimination of the per-country limit for 75 percent of the spouses and minor children of permanent residents allowed for increased immigration from countries with large backlogs, such as Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Mexican immigration also increased due to the temporary category added under IMMACT allowing for the immigration of spouses and children of legalization dependentsnearly three-quarters of all legalization dependents were born in Mexico and El Salvador.

The country with the largest increase in employment-based immigration was Mainland China, which increased from an average of 2,585 a year before IMMACT to 33,600 in FY 1994. A significant part of this increase was due to the Chinese Student Protection Act (21,300), which allowed certain Chinese persons in the United States to adjust status under the employment category, but without regard to other employment-based requirements. Other countries with a larger

average annual increase in employment-based immigration after IMMACT were: India; the Philippines; Canada; the United Kingdom; and Taiwan.

Of the 110,000 transitional diversity visas issued in FYs 1992-1994,

40 percent were legislated to go to natives of Ireland. During this period, Ireland accounted for 35.3 percent of the diversity visas, second to Poland with 38.2 percent. Hence, the number of Irish immigrants entering the United States did not quite reach the mandated 40 percent. The transitional diversity program was largely responsible for the significant increases in immigration from these two countries. Other countries accounting for a large number of diversity immigrants during FYs 1992-1993 were the United Kingdom (8.6 percent) and Japan (8.3). During FY 1994, the United Kingdom accounted for 7.3 percent of diversity immigrants, but Japan made up only 1.8 percent, and Canada surpassed Japan as the fourth largest, with 2.5 percent.

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Age and Gender. The median age of immigrants admitted in FYs 1992-1994 was about twenty-eight years, little different than immigrants admitted in earlier years. Even though the median ages did not appear to change significantly during the early 1990s, the data indicate a long-term shift in the age distribution of immigrants. The largest number of entering immigrants typically are in their twenties. Recently, however, the percentage of immigrants in this age group has declined while the percentage of immigrants who enter in their forties and fifties has increased. It is difficult to draw any conclusions from these data on the impact of IMMACT, as the change appears to predate IMMACT. IRCA immigrants were much older than other immigrants at their time of adjustment; however, many have been in the United States for more than ten years and, thus, were younger at the time of their entry.

Nearly 54 percent of the immigrants admitted in FYs 1992-1994 were female. By contrast, during the 1980s, men and women were equally represented. The trend toward more women admitted as legal immigrants began prior to IMMACT. It is likely to be reinforced, however, by the entry of the family members of aliens legalized under IRCA. High proportions of young adult legalized aliens were men, many of whom already have petitioned for their wives and children.

Intended Residence. Immigration in the 1990s follows much the same pattern as in the 1980s regarding intended residence, shown in Chart 3. Approximately 70 percent of the FY 1994 immigrants intend to live in the six states of California (25.8 percent), New York (18.0), Texas (6.8), Florida (7.3), New Jersey (5.5), and Illinois (5.3). Most immigrants settle in large urban areas, with about 25 percent intending to live either in New York City or Los Angeles. Other metropolitan areas with significant immigrant arrivals are Chicago, Miami, Washington, DC, and San Francisco.

The patterns of residence of the IRCA immigrants is different than other legal immigrants. Although the top six states are the same for

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Number Percent

1982-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994 IRCA 1982-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994 IRCA

(8 years) (2 years) (2 years) (1 year) (5 years) (8 years) (2 years) (2 years) (1 year) (5 years)

State of Intended

Residence

Total 4,726,165 1,360,116 1,690,649 798,394 2,669,968 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

California 1,293,050 380,542 485,534 205,873 1,422,873 27.4 28.0 28.7 25.8 53.3

New York 837,088 263,625 290,860 143,813 145,190 17.7 19.4 17.2 18.0 5.4

Texas 346,016 82,135 120,283 54,603 402,328 7.3 6.0 7.1 6.8 15.1

Florida 324,763 97,122 109,959 57,934 141,578 6.9 7.1 6.5 7.3 5.3

New Jersey 247,349 76,532 96,217 44,034 39,747 5.2 5.6 5.7 5.5 1.5

Illinois 220,189 59,652 86,777 42,209 143,066 4.7 4.4 5.1 5.3 5.4

Massachusetts 121,787 39,427 45,512 22,819 16,483 2.6 2.9 2.7 2.9 0.6

Virginia 89,673 29,990 33,656 15,323 17,076 1.9 2.2 2.0 1.9 0.6

Pennsylvania 89,138 27,506 32,816 15,949 8,333 1.9 2.0 1.9 2.0 0.3

Washington 82,449 20,862 32,063 18,123 33,180 1.7 1.5 1.9 2.3 1.2

Maryland 85,758 26,329 31,911 15,923 10,871 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.0 0.4

Michigan 70,325 22,077 28,840 12,723 5,823 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.6 0.2

Other 918,580 234,317 296,221 149,068 283,420 19.4 17.2 17.5 18.6 10.6

1984-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994 IRCA 1984-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994 IRCA

(6 years) (2 years) (2 years) (1 year) (5 years) (6 years) (2 years) (2 years) (1 year) (5 years)

Metropolitan Area of

Intended Residence

Total 3,572,271 1,360,116 1,690,649 798,394 2,669,968 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

New York 565,169 225,997 247,546 123,942 129,476 15.8 16.6 14.6 15.5 4.8

Los Angeles 399,908 152,440 192,156 75,607 707,679 11.2 11.2 11.4 9.5 26.5

Chicago 131,121 51,509 78,385 39,892 122,155 3.7 3.8 4.6 5.0 4.6

Miami 139,465 52,406 55,692 29,040 57,527 3.9 3.9 3.3 3.6 2.2

Washington 103,099 47,716 53,953 24,994 28,207 2.9 3.5 3.2 3.1 1.1

Anaheim 81,242 32,613 49,687 15,254 122,258 2.3 2.4 2.9 1.9 4.6

Houston 55,536 23,092 42,429 17,121 119,994 1.6 1.7 2.5 2.1 4.5

San Jose 69,697 29,224 40,288 16,164 36,703 2.0 2.1 2.4 2.0 1.4

San Francisco 97,665 36,884 39,855 18,601 31,534 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.3 1.2

Boston 66,190 31,221 37,091 18,650 14,696 1.9 2.3 2.2 2.3 0.6

Other areas 1,863,179 677,014 853,567 504,875 1,299,739 52.2 49.8 50.5 52.5 48.7

Note: Data for metropolitan areas were first collected in 1984. The periods shown reflect the decade and period immediately prior to the

Immigration Act of 1990, a transition period during 1992-1993, and the most recent data for 1994 that most closely reflects the effects of the

1990 Act. IRCA refers to persons adjusting to permanent resident status from IRCA's temporary legalization status through 1993.

Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Statistics Division

Chart 3.

Immigrant Admissions by State and Metropolitan Area of Intended Residence: FYs 1982-1994

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Chart 4.

Immigrant Admissions (Ages 16-64) by Occupation and Sex: FYs 1990-1994

Note: Total includes persons with an unknown sex. The periods shown reflect the period immediately prior to the Immigration Act of 1990, a transition period during 1992-1993, and the most recent data for 1994 that most closely reflects the effects of the 1990 Act.

Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Statistics Division

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IRCA immigrants as for other immigrants, IRCA immigrants are more concentrated. More than 85 percent of IRCA immigrants live in the top six states and more than 50 percent live in California. The family members of the legalized aliens who immigrate in the future should further increase the proportion of legal immigrants residing in California and Texas.

Occupation. Chart 4 shows immigrants (age 16-64) by their occupation at the time their entry is recorded. The increase in the employment-based preference limit from approximately 54,000 in 1991 to 140,000 in 1992 could have the most impact on the occupational characteristics of new immigrants. Beyond increasing overall admissions, IMMACT reduced the number of unskilled immigrants and their family members who enter under employment categories from 27,000 to 10,000, while raising the number of highly skilled immigrants allowed to enter from 27,000 to approximately 110,000. This decrease in visa limits for unskilled may be offset, however, by the entry of the family members of legalized aliens.

The reported occupations of immigrants of working age changed only slightly after IMMACT. (All but about 6 percent of adult immigrants report an occupation or report that they are homemakers, students, unemployed, or retired. There is considerable uncertainty in this domain, however, since immigrants report either their last job in their home country or, if entering under the employment-based preferences or adjusting in the U.S., the job they are or will be performing in the United States.) More than one-fifth of all adult immigrants report themselves to be white collar workers, while reported blue collar immigrants represent about one-seventh, and service workers just less than one-tenth of all immigrants. Nearly one-half of working age immigrants report that they are homemakers, students, unemployed, or retired.

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EVALUATING

IMMIGRATION TODAY

The Commission has listened to and considered thoroughly the views of many U.S. citizens and resident aliens. Public hearings and consultations were held in Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, El Paso,

Chicago, Lowell, New York, Austin, San Juan, Washington, and Phoenix. A systematic analysis was undertaken of the economic and social characteristics of recent immigrants, the economic and social adaptation of immigrants, the impact of immigration on federal, state and local benefit programs, and the labor market, demographic, environmental, and other effects of immigration.

The Commission found substantial evidence of both the benefits and costs of immigration. Neighborhoods, businesses, schools, and consumers benefit from immigrant entrepreneurs, workers, and immigrant communities. These economic benefits are supplemented by vibrant contributions to all aspects of American culture. Concerns were expressed about the difficulties that attend immigrants' increasing numbers and tendency to concentrate in certain industries, schools, and neighborhoods, as well as about labor market costs incurred as a result of immigration. Many features of immigration demonstrate countervailing favorable and unfavorable aspects. On balance, however, the Commission believes that a properly regulated legal immigration system remains in the national interest.

Seen from a national level, both the positive and the negative effects of immigration are minimal, at best or at worst. Immigrants are a relatively small part of our total population, and their economic contributions and costs are a small part of our huge economy. However, at a local level or in relationship to a particular industry, the benefits and costs may be substantial.

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On the benefit side, immigrants often are a bright spot in today's all too often bleak urban environment.

Immigrant minorities coming to the United States are more likely than the general population to locate in the central city. As a result, large immigrant streams to such areas as Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Miami contributed to the central cities' growth and diversity (Frey & Fielding 1995:15).

In the areas where immigrants concentrate, they frequently establish new businesses and other employment-generating activities that promote the renewal of city neighborhoods and commercial districts. This has been particularly apparent in the wake of the decades-long movement of natives from inner cities to the suburbs and from the northeastern "rustbelt" to the southern and western states. America's white majority led the way and many in the African-American

middle-class are following. The movement of immigrants into urban neighborhoods takes place within the context of these dynamic migration patterns driven primarily by the decline of the inner-city manufacturing and commercial base and the rise of the information society. Although further empirical evidence is needed on the relationship between the in-migration of immigrants and the migration of natives, immigrants appear to have prevented substantial population loss and resulting reduction in revenues in many cities. This pattern follows a historical process of new immigrants replacing

older groups who have moved out of inner-city businesses and

neighborhoods.

Nowhere are these processes more apparent than in the gateway cities where most immigrants choose to live, particularly in New York. As one prominent demographer notes, "The role played by international migration in the population dynamics of New York has been historically significant and continues to be (Kraly 1987:70). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s natives moved out and the tradi

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tional manufacturing sector was replaced by services, leaving neighborhoods vulnerable (Youssef 1992:96). The Department of City

Planning concluded that, "Much of the loss was due to a large outmigration in response to an ailing economy." The city agency continued: "The substantial immigration in 1970-1980 period prevented an already large population loss from becoming even larger," noting that, "The trend continued in the 1980s" (New York City 1992:158).

The role of immigration in offsetting the city's decline is well

understood by city leaders. Valerie Oltarsh (1994), Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, testified before the

Commission:

Today immigrants remain in New York City a spark plug for the nation's economic growth. Immigrants form the core of our city's small business structure; Korean greengrocers, Indian and Pakistani news agents, Senegalese merchants. . . . The presence of immigrants who by some counts represent 29 percent [roughly equal to their percent of the population] of the small business owners in New York City, assure that this city will always have a solid small business base and their creativity and innovation will further provide for continuing economic growth.

The city planning office concluded that, "These businesses, in turn, are a magnet for tourists. The marketing of ethnic goods and services as become a hallmark of many immigrant neighborhoods, such as Belmont, Jackson Heights, Chinatown, Little Italy, Brighton Beach among many others" [New York City 1992:161]. Similar testimony was repeated to the Commission in cities throughout the United States. In north Chicago, David Marzahl (1994:96), Director of the Chicago Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Protection, reported that on Argyle Street ten years ago there were only four viable businesses

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and "today there are over 250 in a polyglot neighborhood." Many small and dynamic immigrant enterprises fill buildings that otherwise would be empty, generating employment and paying city revenues. Although more analysis is needed on business failures within the immigrant community, the entrepreneurial disposition and self-reliance of the members of many immigrant groups remain a proto-typical component of America's economic and business success, marked by their high rates of self-employment and willingness to take risks. Middle-class, foreign entrepreneurs invest valued capital, often pooling funds from individuals within their community or bringing monies in from sources abroad (Muller 1993). Immigrant enclaves provide more than a colorful urban landscape; they can provide an oasis of economic stability for some of America's troublesome urban environs.

Many studies indicate that immigrant employees are hardworking: they have high rates of labor force participation and are more likely than natives to work full time. New arrivals over the past decade have not fallen behind in this regard; they demonstrate an ongoing commitment to labor force participation and hard work. They provide employment in growing sectors of the economy, both "low-and upper-end," that are the backbone of modern society. While there is evidence of some displacement and exploitation, as discussed below, many immigrants fill jobs that benefit U.S. residents, particularly the middle-class who demand more fast food and full service restaurants and other services supporting the dual-earner household. Many manufacturing industries, and the consumers, industries, and professional services that depend upon them, from apparel and electronics to meat-packing, are partly reliant upon low-skilled immigrants. High-skilled immigrants supply talented workers for America's world class medical establishment, engineering sector, and higher education. Yet, contrary to casual assumptions, new research indicates the legal immigrant worker is unlikely to be found in the informal economy. For example, one study finds the foreign-born as a group

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are less likely than natives to earn below the minimum wage, are no more likely to suffer underemployment, and are just as likely to join unions as their native counterparts (Trejo 1993). The new evidence does not support sweeping statements about legal immigrants creating less hospitable working environments and certainly indicates the need for further research in this area.

A strong work ethic derives partly from family values and tiesthat is, close reliance on and support of families and households in both the working and social life of many immigrants. These characteristics are contributions to good schools and strong communities, particularly needed to offset countervailing pressures toward gangs and crime (see below). In turn, strong immigrant supports for family values shore up and serve to reinvigorate American values, shared regardless of color or creed. The United States has been the world's largest multiethnic and multicultural society, successfully integrating new immigrants from diverse heritages. That mix continues to be well served by the arrival of fresh perspectives. Immigrants often play important and visible roles at the highest levels of the U.S. military and federal and local government. An effective American immigration policy demonstrates that religious and ethnic diversity are compatible with national civic unity in a democratic and free society.

Further, access to talent in a properly regulated immigration system strengthens American resources in science and the humanities. Examples abound historically and today of American-immigrant Nobel laureates, renowned inventors, business leaders, and performing, sports and artistic icons, who have made immeasurable contributions to our prosperity. Many new arrivals demonstrate an inclination to achieve the highest educational standards. Our system of education clearly benefits from the children of many immigrant groups, albeit at increased taxpayer cost in many communities that would have had a declining school-age population without immigra

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tion. In Lowell, Massachusetts the Commission heard from the

City Manager, Richard Johnson (1994), that "the Asian family

commitment to education has helped to accelerate our entire educational system." While high dropout rates remain a problem for some immigrant groups, many immigrant children graduate at the top of their high school classes and go on to college and graduate careers. They provide a valuable core of graduate students, especially in the engineering and scientific fields.

Immigrants also can strengthen America's economic and political ties with other nations and, thus, enhance our ability to compete in a global economy and provide leadership in international and humanitarian affairs. Although additional research is needed on the relationship between immigration and competition in a global economy, workers with foreign language skills, contacts, knowledge, and experience appear to offer a unique advantage in a global business community. Consider testimony from Robert Eagle (1995), an international human resource specialist at a major electronics firm in Texas:

Besides the top engineering development positions, we do, of course, bring people over who will manage certain aspects of our business. . . . In some cases, we are even hiring some away from foreign companies to come lead our research and development. These individuals have obtained expertise that is simply nonexistent in the US. We need these skills in order to proceed to get our products up to speed, to get the technology in place so we can remain competitive often with, say the Japanese or other firms.

Employment-based immigrants with special skills or specific business experience offer an invaluable resource to U.S. businesses facing shortages of such skills or experience. Global competitiveness com

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pels that leading businesses take advantage of workers with the best skills, sometimes promoted from within a multinational corporation's own international labor pool.

The Commission's investigations, however, confirm that immigration has costs as well. Those costs may become greater given that a substantial proportion of new immigrants appear to have very low levels of education and skills. Immigrants fall into two major clusters. While 20 percent of foreign-born residents over the age of twenty-five have a university degree, 41 percent have not completed a high school education. By contrast, 21 percent of native-born residents over the age of twenty-five have a college degree and 20 percent have not completed a high school education. Research suggests that lower skill levels partly explains a slowing rate of immigrant "wage assimilation." Although there is evidence of continued convergence in the wages of immigrants and natives of the same sociodemographic characteristics, "the evidence suggests that the earnings of post-1970 immigrants will never reach parity with the earnings of the typical U.S.-born worker" (Borjas 1995b:203). According to a major review of the 1990 data, "Even though there are improvements with longer residence in the U.S., [immigrant] low levels of schooling, job training, and English-language fluency inhibit successful adjustment in the labor market" (Chiswick & Sullivan 1994:65). If immigrants' wages remain lower than that of natives, it may have adverse effects on the relative earnings of the ethnic groups to whom immigrants belong and the U.S. minorities with whom they compete.

Immigrants with relatively low education and skills compete for jobs and public services with the most vulnerable of Americans, particularly those who are unemployed or underemployed. Competition is most evident in those sectors that have not fared well during the intensive restructuring of U.S. industry over the past three decades. During the decade of the 1980s, "Immigrant workers increased the work force of high school dropouts by approximately 25 percent,

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whereas immigrant workers increased the work force of high school graduates by 6-7 percent and of college graduates by 10-11 percent" (Borjas, Freeman & Katz 1992:232). Low-skilled immigrants may compete most with low-skilled native workers and play a subsidiary role, along with international trade, automation, and the growth of an information/service based economy, in the relative decline of earnings experienced by less-well educated workers in the United States. Even foreign professionals sometimes present unfair competition for U.S. workers when they are willing to work for lower wages than similarly trained natives (Bouvier & Simcox 1994). Jobs generated by immigrant businesses, oftentimes in services or light manufacturing, may employ mostly immigrant workers, and hence do not always address these problems adequately. These businesses and even nonimmigrant ones often recruit within immigrant networks, as documented below.

Summarizing the available literature on the labor market impacts of immigration in a Commission on Immigration Reform research paper, Yale economist T. Paul Schultz (1995) stated:

Building barriers to immigration would not seem to be justified by current research, although raising the skill composition of immigrants could make a minor contribution to reducing wage inequality and improving job prospects for the least skilled and educated native-born American workers who have recently lost much ground.

The impact of immigration on already-resident minorities, apart from what is related to skill and education, is harder to calculate. Some studies indicate that African-Americans in areas with high levels of immigration fared better during the 1980s than those in other areas. Certainly, the available empirical research on direct wage effects of immigrants finds little significant effect specifically on the earnings

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of U.S. minorities. Evidence on the relationship between immigration and natives' welfare is not necessarily causal, however, because immigrants often settle in areas with growing economies and a rising tide helps all residents. To the extent that immigration contributes to a community's economic growth, domestic minorities may benefit. What is unknown is whether, in the absence of immigration, unemployed minorities would have moved in greater numbers to these areas.

By contrast, immigration appears to have the most negative consequences for earlier waves of immigrants, many of whom are members of minority populations and households. "The group most clearly and severely disadvantaged by newly arrived immigrants is other recent immigrants who are, in the final analysis, the closest substitutes for newcomers. The uniformity of research results in this area is striking" (Fix & Passel 1994:51).

Another frequently noted aspect of immigration is the regional disparity of its distribution. Newcomers predominantly move to a handful of states and metropolitan areas where they often, as in times past, cluster in distinct residential areas and sectors of employment. There are often immediate costs, particularly in education funding to meet the additional and special needs of newcomers. Testimony from Rudolfo Serna (1994:3), Assistant Superintendent of the Public Schools in Chicago noted:

[Immigration and] its resulting challenges to public education has not diminished over the years. The needs of these children are numerous. Many of the newest immigrants come from war torn nations. They bring with them a great amount of psychological "baggage." Our teachers must deal with the adjustment issues related to the trauma of war as well as combatting the other obstacles of language,

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political persecution and in many cases poverty, that stand in the way of foreign-born newcomers.

Across the nation, English language and bilingual education pose challenges to the education system, frequently being especially difficult because of the great variety of native tongues represented. The situation is made more difficult as reported in the 1990 Censusnearly one-half of school-aged immigrants (five to seventeen years of age) do not see themselves as speaking English "very well," and one-fifth live in linguistically isolated households where no adult speaks only English, yet no adult speaks English very well either (U.S. DOC 1993a).

The concentrated or rapid entry of immigrants into localities can produce difficulties for local governments and labor forces. The revitalization of communities, such as New York City's Sunset Park, that occurred with immigration, did not occur without attendant disruptionsovercrowded housing, crime fed by foreign gangs, and clashing life styles (Winnick 1990:47). Some businesses dependent on immigrant labor survive by paying substandard wages and offering poor working conditions to workers unused to American standards. Although the available research needs substantial refinement, it appears that immigrants do impose net fiscal costs on local area governments, at least in the short run. These costs have been measured for illegal aliens and deportable aliens in the prison systems, although reliable estimates of other net fiscal costs of legal immigrants are not well established with empirical data as yet. The Commission is concerned that more reliable estimates are needed and is supporting state-of-the-art research coordinated by the nonpartisan National Academy of Sciences. A panel of leading economists and demographers will develop the best possible projections of the immigrant population and evaluate the economic and fiscal impacts of immigrants at federal, state, and local levels. The panel's conclusions will be available in the Spring of 1997, in time for the

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Commission's final recommendations to Congress in the fall of

that year.

Research on fiscal and labor market impacts has long suggested that the aggregate or national-level impacts of immigrants are small, whereas the state and local labor market impacts can be quite marked. The magnitude of natives' job displacement from legal immigration are, again, not well established from empirical data, but the weight of evidence implies that real and significant costs can take place in local labor markets. Oftentimes the impact of immigrants is concentrated in certain kinds of jobs. Employment prospects are referred through ethnic networks, in which immigrants play a prominent part, and on which employers rely as an inexpensive and reliable means of finding workers. As a result, native or nonethnic workers seeking employment may be closed out of the employment network (Papademetriou 1994). This "network closure" is, clearly, a localized phenomenon. Local officials are ever more aware that, even if immigration's overall national-level effects are small, their impacts on states and localities are often significant.

Impacts also vary by type of immigrant. Working age immigrants appear to pose little burden on public services. Research shows that they use public assistance at lower rates than native-born U.S. residents. Other immigrants do impose costs, however. For example, refugees tend to utilize public benefit programs more than other working age immigrants. For humanitarian reasons, the public charge provisions are waived in determining the admissibility of refugees, meaning that many refugees have no source of immediate support. They are specially eligible for public assistance to help them through their transition to life in the U.S. For some refugees, gaining independence from public aid programs is difficult because of physical and emotional problems (such as malnutrition or posttraumatic stress disorder) stemming from their earlier experiences as refugees.